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I hope I am wrong, but I do not think so And, so you see, in one

I hope I am wrong, but I do not think so. And, so you see, in one (conservation) sense, size is important but in another, it is not. For, although the English may appear to espouse the cause of the little man (another phantom legacy left over from the Second World War), when it comes to conservation in one’s own backyard, or curtilage, the little chap can get lost (to put it politely). ““Associations between ants and plants have a long evolutionary history, possibly dating back to the Cretaceous, and exemplify a complex continuum from mutualism to antagonism (Rico-Gray

and Oliveira, 2007). They can affect the structure and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems and play a significant role in ecologically different habitats from tropical forests to temperate and alpine environments Ipilimumab in vivo (Beattie, 1985 and Rico-Gray and Oliveira, 2007). Ant–plant mutualistic interactions are more common than antagonistic ones, with seed dispersal and plant protection from herbivores being by far the best studied ant–plant mutualisms (Culver and Beattie, 1978, Heil and McKey, 2003, Ness et al., 2004 and Bronstein

et al., AZD6244 mouse 2006). Interactions between ants and flowers have traditionally been interpreted as antagonistic, but the outcome of that association can shift from negative to positive depending on the species involved and community context (Rico-Gray and Oliveira, 2007). Ant visits to flowers have been generally suggested to be detrimental to plant fitness because ants consume floral nectar, may deter other flower visitors, and damage floral parts (Galen, 1983, Ramsey, 1995 and Junker et al., 2007). In accordance with this interpretation, a variety of physico-chemical flower characteristics have been proposed as mechanisms for deterring ant visits (Guerrant and Fiedler, 1981, Junker Clomifene and Blüthgen, 2008, Willmer et al., 2009 and Junker et al., 2011a). The controversial question of whether ants have a beneficial or harmful effect on flowers also

has to do with pollination. Ant workers have long been regarded as poor agents of cross-pollination because of their small size, lack of wings, and frequent grooming (but see Peakall and Beattie, 1991 and Gómez and Zamora, 1992). Further, the ‘antibiotic hypothesis’ provides an additional explanation as to why ants can be considered ineffective pollinators (Beattie et al., 1984 and Peakall et al., 1991): the cuticular surface and metapleural glands of some ants produce compounds with antibiotic properties against bacterial and fungal attack, and these secretions may reduce pollen viability (Beattie et al., 1984, Beattie et al., 1985, Hull and Beattie, 1988 and Dutton and Frederickson, 2012; but see Peakall and Beattie, 1989, Peakall, 1994 and Gómez and Zamora, 1992).